Selected category: EU REACH

In our last update on the European Union’s Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), we noted a major milestone under the “A” of REACH, as the first application for an authorisation was passed to and is awaiting decision by the European Commission. The authorisation process is continuing to move along: as of May 19th, ECHA has received 13 applications for 35 uses of six different substances on the Authorisation list. Interest in ECHA’s authorisation work is also increasing, eliciting a greater variety of stakeholder input than in the first round. Read More »

It’s been a while since we’ve posted an update on ongoing activities under the European Union’s Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has been quite busy in recent months.

The first application for authorisation (we’ll be using the English spelling of this term, as it is spelled in REACH) to use a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) cleared ECHA’s Committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) on January 3rd. This is a significant step in the implementation of REACH in the EU. The authorisation process is intended both to manage the risks posed by SVHCs and to drive the replacement of these hazardous substances with safer alternatives. And, as the final step in the process laid out under REACH for managing chemical substances, its execution is central to the success of REACH as a whole. This first application for authorisation was therefore a kind of test-run for ECHA, as well as the chemical industry, and sets the stage for the submission and review of future authorisation applications.

As we run through the details of this particular authorisation application, keep in mind that ECHA received seven other applications for authorisation last year, and will see even more activity in the coming year. Read More »

Two years ago, accidental use of a chemical in humidifiers in South Korea tragically took the lives of 18 people and captured national headlines. Nearly a year later another fatal accident occurred at a chemical plant, this time injuring thousands of people in the surrounding area as well.

Meanwhile, the South Korean National Assembly was negotiating a new comprehensive chemicals bill that some observers saw as leaning in favor of the business interests at the table. The tragedies brought the public spotlight to the issue and changed the political dynamic and policy outcome. With the public calling for greater control over toxic chemicals, legislators reinstated many of the health-protective requirements that had been dropped due to industry pressure (Chemical Watch, subscription required). And on April 30th, 2013, the Assembly passed the “Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals”, known as “Korea REACH” or simply “K-REACH” (Chemical Watch, subscription required). Read More »

The European Union is maintaining a steady pace as it works to address chemicals of concern: Last month, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) added 54 Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) to the Candidate List for Authorisation under its REACH Regulation, bringing the total number of substances on the list to 138. ECHA posted a press release listing the new SVHCs and describing some of the more interesting additions, which we’ve highlighted below.

For 23 of the additions, REACH’s Member State Committee (MSC) reviewed public comments during the comment period on draft SVHC proposals before voting unanimously to add all of them onto the Candidate List. The other 31 new additions were not challenged during the public comment period, and hence moved directly onto the candidate list without MSC consultation.

The majority of the new SVHCs, like most substances already on the list, are classified as carcinogen, mutagenic and/or toxic to reproduction (CMRs). But it’s with the other new listings that it gets really interesting. Read More »

The number of chemicals identified as “substances of very high concern” (SVHCs) in the European Union continues to grow. With today’s addition of 13 new chemicals, there are now 84 entries (representing 92 Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) registration numbers) on REACH’s Candidate List for Substances of Very High Concern for Authorisation.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) added the 13 chemicals based on each chemical’s classification as Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, or Toxic for Reproduction (CMR). [UPDATE: Of the new batch, two are among the 83 TSCA workplan chemicals recently identified by EPA as priorities for risk assessment, and five were reported as being in U.S. commerce in 2006. With the new addition, a total of 48 of the 92 CAS numbers on the Candidate List were reported as in commerce in the U.S. in 2006. Additionally, 20 of the 92 CAS numbers on the Candidate List are included among the TSCA workplan chemicals.]Read More »

After many months of increasing the quantity but not the quality of dossiers available to the public for chemicals registered under REACH, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has recently announced two improvements. (REACH is the European Union’s regulation for the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals.) According to the agency, the public will soon have access to more data from the dossiers that were submitted by companies as part of the first wave of REACH’s Registration process.

In a press release issued a couple of weeks ago, ECHA announced that it will publish information from registered chemicals’ Safety Data Sheets – including the identity of the registrant and whether the chemical was found to be Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT). And last week, ECHA said it will also publish (by June) the aggregate production volume ranges (called “tonnage bands”) for chemicals registered under REACH. These decisions will improve ECHA’s record on disclosure and transparency by increasing the amount of both hazard and exposure data available to the public on chemicals in use. Read More »